


Sweet Dreams

by WindOfTheWillows17



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: HPFT, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-04
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-07-12 02:51:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7081924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WindOfTheWillows17/pseuds/WindOfTheWillows17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the height of the First Wizarding War... Everyone will be tested especially Sirius.</p><p>Sequel to: Cold Feet</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweet Dreams

Sirius had been in a downward spiral for months since Marlene had left him at the alter on their wedding day, jumping around the European continent visiting bar after bar and going home with endless scores of women. On nights when he was too drunk to walk, he made his home in an alley, leaning up against a dumpster with only a stray cat and an empty bottle of Fire Whiskey to keep him company. 

Whenever he would stay with a woman he always made sure that he left shortly after they were done being intimate or if he fell asleep he would wake earlier enough to detach himself from any sort of comfort that they could have provided had he not been just using them. He justified it as they were also using him too, so it was just a winning situation for both parties with no strings attached. 

All he wanted was to forget about her, but doing that meant that he had to admit to letting her go which he couldn’t do either. He skipped work in order to avoid her and stayed home to drown his sorrows in bottle upon bottle of any type of liquor he could get his hands on or bribe Remus to get him.

He ignored missions for the Order and anything to do with them for the fear that he would be partnered with her. The once fearless Marauder was brought to his knees puking his guts out because of a woman and he sure as hell wasn’t going to give her the benefit of showing her this weakness. 

His life began to become meaningless as he pushed those he loved away from him because of his inability to believe that they had his best interest at heart. The only person he allowed himself contact with was Remus, who knew better than anyone what it was like to feel shunned away from the rest of the world. 

Remus would relay any messages about what was going on with the Order, but have enough concern to not divulge any information about Marlene and vice versa. James on the other hand was taken a completely different approach. He would spend his lunch breaks from work, pounding on the door to Sirius’ flat to no avail and writing him letter after letter to bombard him into annoyance that he would have to read at least one of them.

All the letters James had sent were piled on the small table in Sirius’ kitchen. The ones further to the bottom of the pile were covered in dust. 

Sirius had crawled out of his bed around 9 o’clock in the evening and planned on setting off to his favorite bar the ‘seven seas’, but James was pounding on the door again and with him was another all too familiar voice of Remus. He snuck quietly over to the door to listen to their conversation.

“I know he’s in there Remus!” James barked at him as his anger grew. “You better let me in that stupid flat before I curse you to all oblivion.”

Remus held up his hands trying with all his might to calm the irate James. “What do you want me to tell him?”

“I don’t want you to tell him anything. I want to tell him what is going on. You’re not an owl you know Remus.” James continued his voice rising with each word and holding up his wand threateningly. 

“Okay, okay.” Remus said in a calmly defeated tone. “I’ll let you in, but you have to promise-”

The door opened quickly and caught both Remus and James off guard. Remus jumped back and James lowered his wand. 

“Just what do you two think you’re doing?” Sirius questioned angrily looking between the both of them. 

“I- I- I-...” Remus muttered as he righted himself and continued to hold his hands up. “I was dragged here by James because something serious has happened Sirius.”

Sirius looked between the two of them wondering automatically who had died.

“We really need to talk, can we come in please?” James asked him, his voice lowering from from where it had been when he was yelling at Remus. 

Sirius stood back to allow the two to enter the flat and shut the door with a snap after Remus had crossed the threshold.

James and Remus both took seats on the couch, but Sirius remained standing. 

“Who died?” Sirius questioned again looking between the two as if he was trying to read their minds. 

“Gideon and Fabian Prewett.” Remus muttered.

“What?” Sirius said with a shocked look on his face. “How? Who?”

“They were on a specialized mission for the Order, but Dumbledore won’t say what for.” James said. “They took on five Death Eaters, but ultimately were overpowered. At this point we don’t know all of their names, but we do have intel that says that Dolohov was among the five.”

Sirius stared at James trying to determine if he was serious about what he was saying. “So why are you two here?” He asked pointing back and forth between the two of them.

“Because you’re needed for a special assignment.” Remus replied honestly.

“It has nothing to do with Marlene.” James blurted out before he could catch himself. 

Sirius sighed as a pain coursed through him like a jagged knife. “What is it now?”

“Well.” James started as he raised his wand and cast the ‘muffilato’ charm to make sure that their conversation wouldn’t be heard by anyone that they didn’t want hearing it. “A Prophecy was made about Harry and now Voldemort has basically named us as his main targets. Everyone is going into hiding and there is said to be a snitch somewhere in the Order. I need your help Sirius.”

Sirius began to pace the dimly lit room. “How do you know there’s a snitch?” 

“Because the only people to know that the Prewett’s had a specialized mission that night were all members of the Order and on top of that it had nothing to do with tailing any Death Eaters they shouldn’t have even been around.” Remus explained to him as he watched Sirius pace like a dog in a cage waiting to get out.

“So now all of you have to go into hiding?” Sirius questioned James.

“Yes. It’s the only way.” James stated with a pained expression. 

“Somebody is being used.” Sirius began. “I wonder who it could be.”

“No one knows that is why we all have to go underground.” Remus replied back to him. 

Sirius stopped pacing. “What do you need me to do James?”

“I need you to agree to be our Secret Keeper.” James started to say. “But I want you to be able find some closure as well before hand because once you agree to this, you will be hunted relentlessly.”

“It’s time you stop abusing yourself with sex and booze and clean up your act Sirius.” Remus said carefully watching Sirius.

“You need to go talk to her.” James calmly said.

“And find out what exactly?” Sirius questioned the other two as his temper began to rise. “I have been searching for something, anything that would give me a hint as to why she did what she did and now you two loonies want me to go talk to her?”

“Yes.” James and Remus replied back in unison. 

“You have to close that chapter of your life now or you risk the chance of never knowing.” James continued on. 

“What if she dies and you never get to hear her give you an explanation. Can you live with that?” Remus asked him seriously as Sirius rubbed his hand across his forehead. 

“No I suppose not.” Sirius said looking sadly at the other two.

James and Remus stood up. 

“Meet us at headquarters in two hours, so we can meet with Dumbledore about you being our Secret Keeper. We’ll go talk to Peter and make sure he meets us there to.” James told Sirius as him and Remus made for the door. 

“We’ll get through this Sirius, I promise.” James told him as he clapped him on the shoulder and walked out the door.

“Remember Sirius, two hours from now at the safe house.” Remus reminded and followed in James’ wake.

Two hours later, Sirius was walking into the safe house. Inside he met up with James, Lily, Harry, Peter, Remus and Dumbledore. 

“Ah, Sirius, it’s so good to see you. I trust that James and Remus have explained the situation that has arisen since you’ve been away?” Dumbledore asked him casually. 

Sirius nodded. 

“Good. Now,” he gestured to the seats around the room as he shut the door. “Let’s get down to business, shall we?”

The other nodded in unison. 

“As we all know about the Prophecy, I will skip over that part, but only highlight what I think may be the most important part. Voldemort is after Harry. Because of this, I feel it is wise to use the Fidelius Charm and hide them away with one of you as their Secret Keeper. James and Lily have chosen Sirius to be that person.” 

“Are you up for this Sirius?” Lily asked him pointedly.

“Yes.” Sirius replied. 

“Good.” Dumbledore continued. “Now that it is settled, I will go ahead and see myself out while you work out the finer details.”

“Since I am not included in this, I am going to go as well.” Remus stated as he stood up and walked out of the room.

“M-me too!” Peter hesitated. 

“No Peter, stay. In fact,” Sirius began as he watched Remus shut the door behind him. “Why don’t you do it?”

“What?” James, Lily and Peter all said in unison. 

“Seriously…” Sirius stated back as they all gave him a confused look. “It’s a perfect plan. Dumbledore and Remus already think that I am going to be the Secret Keeper and if anyone knows better than they would suspect me as well. If Peter does this, he’ll be safe because he is going to go into hiding like the rest of us anyway and they will come after me as the obvious choice first.”

“What do you say Pete?” James asked him.

“Well, I- I- I- I-” He stuttered as he looked between their three eager faces. 

“Please Peter?” Lily asked him nicely.

“Fine!” Peter relinquished to the pressure.

“Then it’s settled!” Sirius clapped his hands and ruffled Harry’s hair. “Now if you don’t mind, there is someone I have to get around to seeing.

He quickly went to the loo to clean himself up as much as he could before he made his appearance at Marlene’s. When he left his flat he went straight for the alley way to disapparate. 

The moment his feet hit the ground outside of Marlene’s he knew something was wrong. Above him in the sky was the eerie green ghostly glow of the Dark Mark. 

Without hesitation or much thought, Sirius sprinted up the front steps of the house and through the half open door with a resounding crash. The lights flickered inside and he slowly made his way into the sitting room with his wand stretched out in front of him ready and willing to seek any form of justice he could. 

When he entered the sitting room he saw that there had been a struggle. Lamps were broken and the lights continued to flicker on and off making it difficult to concentrate with his adrenaline pumping so fiercely. The mirror above the fireplace had been broken and bits of glass that remained littered the floor in front of the fireplace. When he looked down at the shards all he could see was his broken reflection when the lights would flash on and he realized that in this moment everything in his life had been a sweet dream completely shattered by evil. He was broken.

It was a fact that he couldn’t disagree with and the thought alone was enough to make the bile rise in his throat. He fought the feeling and forced himself to keep looking around. He knew deep down in his heart of hearts that anyone and everyone that was in this dwelling would be dead. And surely within a moment he saw an hand sticking out from underneath the couch that had been flipped over. 

He used his wand to levitate it off and found Judith McKinnon, Marlene’s mother, lying there with her eyes staring blankly open at the ceiling above her. Sirius stepped back and covered his mouth looking down at his would be mother-in-law. He steeled himself before he kneeled down and with two fingers gently closed her eyes.

The urge to vomit became so strong that he stood up and moved from the sitting room as quickly as he could into the dining room. 

It looked from Sirius’s perspective that the fight continued in here as well. The once beautifully polished mahogany table was shattered down the middle and when he leaned over the edge to see what was behind the other end he saw Kyle and Scott McKinnon, Marlene’s older brothers. It looked like they had been using the table as a defense from spells as there were spots of burned curse marks burnt into the wood and littering the wall behind them. 

He was starting to panic. The reality of what happened was profound and the thought of not getting the answers that he sought were only making it more so. He knew that no matter what he found as he continued to explore the house, this would stay with him for the rest of his life. 

As he walked back into the entrance hall and onto the staircase, he looked at the pictures on the wall as he ascended. It was like looking at a bunch of ghosts living falsely as the family he knew.  
When he got to the top of the stairs he found Jack McKinnon, Marlene’s dad who looked like he had been tortured before he was murdered. There was no doubt in Sirius’ mind that his cousin was probably the culprit. 

He side stepped his would be father-in-law’s body and saw that Katie, Marlene’s ten year old sister’s bedroom door had been slightly open. He peaked his head in to find that she was in her bed, but her eyes were fixed on the ceiling like her mother’s were. He didn’t dare go in there to close her eyes because he didn’t know if he had the strength to see such an innocent life taken.

Instead, he closed the door softly behind him. “Good night sweet angel.” he said as the door latched. 

He leaned his back up against the door for a moment before willing himself to go on. He had to see her and he knew she was here.

He walked a little further down the hall and opened Marlene’s bedroom door. The room inside was completely unrecognizable since he had seen it last, but as he walked in further to investigate, he noticed on the mirror of her vanity had been pictures of him plastered to it. He couldn’t help but feel that sense of pride well up inside of him, but that feeling didn’t last when he looked on the floor on the opposite side of her bed to find her laying there peacefully on the floor. 

He kneeled down next to her and lifted her body up into his arms and cried. She was gone and there was nothing he could do. Nothing could bring her back, but those feelings of anger and hurt that he had towards her after he read that note all those months ago completely evaporated. He just wanted to stay where he was and not move. He just wanted to be dead too in order to be with her, but he knew that wasn’t the answer either.

Marlene would want him to live, to move on and hold his head up high. She would want him to do anything that he could to protect their friends and others because that was the right thing to do. 

After an hour, Sirius couldn’t stand being there anymore. He picked her up and placed her on her bed to make her look more alive and sleeping than cold and dead, just like her sister Katie. He leaned down and kissed her forehead as a tear trekked down his cheek. “I love you Marlene, sweet dreams.”


End file.
